Enticing Eve: Scandalous Secrets, Book 2

by Tracy Goodwin

  Colin tore his eyes away from the wretched note, turning once again towards his wife. There it was again … the fear in her eyes.

  “You can’t be afraid of me?” his tone was hard, accusing. He didn’t ask her if she believed the note for he knew it to be true. It hit too close to his soul.

  Reaching for him, Eve flattened her palm against his cheek. Her fingers were icy cold, and Colin longed to infuse warmth; however, he couldn’t move at the moment, paralyzed by fear of her answer.

  “I could never be afraid of you,” she said, leaning forward and burying her face in the crook of his neck. “I am terrified of this intruder, though. I’m terrified of what he might do to us and of what he thinks he has over you.”

  Colin wrapped his arms around her, clutching her for dear life. The beast inside of him, restless to flee, clawed at his heart. He had half a mind to do just that – leave this damned house, this God forsaken country and never return. Then his wife would know he was indeed afraid, forcing him to confess more truths long before he was ready.

  He never should have brought Eve here. It was as if the monster known as Lachlan MacAlistair was reaching out beyond the grave, again threatening to rip Colin’s love away from him.

  “You’d tell me if this were true, wouldn’t you?” She leaned back, her hands laced around the nape of his neck. “Promise me, you trust me enough to tell me the truth – all of it. Especially now, with this person lurking in our bedchamber, watching us as we slept. Now is not the time for any more secrets, Colin.”

  Colin swallowed against the lump of guilt forming in his throat. There were so many secrets that he wouldn’t know where to start. True, he admitted one to her, but there were others. He wanted to confide in her, to admit that he was indeed the bastard son of a nobleman, yet he couldn’t. Nor could he admit to exactly how he had amassed his wealth.

  “I promise.” It was all he could say. No need to elaborate. The lie was already hovering like a phantom in the room, gaining momentum.

  Eve studied him. “Why would anyone do this?”

  Anger boiled through Colin’s veins towards the man who was toying with his life, threatening all he held dear.

  “I don’t know who he is,” he hissed, “but I swear to you I will find out.”

  Yes, he would hunt the intruder who was endangering the life with the wife that Colin cherished beyond anything else.

  Then he would make him pay.

  Chapter 17

  Aided by his valet, Colin dressed in his suite and set out at sunrise. After instructing one of the stable hands to prepare a stallion for him, he rode down to the guesthouse where Logan met him at the door.

  “I was expecting you,” Logan said, motioning inside. “I made coffee for us.”

  “What did you learn?” Colin demanded.

  Logan picked up his mug, holding it between his palms.

  “There is no evidence of a break-in. All windows and doors remain intact, and all locks were bolted.” He paused, “Are you certain she really saw—”

  “Eve found this on the mantel,” Colin tugged the note from his vest pocket with force, tossing it on the table in front of Logan. “Someone is taunting me.”

  After placing his coffee mug on the table, Logan grabbed the note, reading it aloud.

  “Your husband is not the man he claims to be.” He then whistled. “Someone is on to you, mate. Who are they and what are they referring to – the secret about your parentage or something about the war?”

  “That’s what you promised to find out,” Colin’s tone was hard.

  Logan stood and crossed to a cupboard, removing a decanter of whiskey from the shelf. He then poured some into a mug and handed it to Colin. “Let’s talk parentage first. Who else knows the truth, other than you and I?”

  “It’s a short list, all family,” Colin took a gulp of the amber liquid, pausing as it burned a path down his throat. He ticked off the names in quick staccato, “Gwen, Sebastian, Tristan and Victoria.”

  “Your wife isn’t on that list,” Logan muttered.

  Colin took another large gulp. “Nor will she be until I’m ready.”

  “How about what we did during the war?” Logan asked.

  “You know as well as I do who was involved and how secretive every player was,” Colin said, swallowing hard against the bitter taste in his mouth. “I highly doubt this has anything to do with our efforts during the war. If so, why wouldn’t you be getting notes like this as well?”

  Logan sighed, “You were in much deeper than I ever was, mate. Let’s assume this has nothing to do with the war. What about Tristan? Any chance he’s seeking revenge against you for stealing his betrothed by outing you as a bastard?”

  “Not a chance.” Of that Colin was certain. His brother would never be so cruel, no matter what Colin had done to him, which is what made Tristan a far better person than Colin would ever be.

  “You need to tell her,” Logan insisted, “before whoever is taunting you does it for you.”

  “I thought you were going to ensure he doesn’t get close enough to do so,” Colin spoke through gritted teeth.

  Logan studied him. “She’s a good woman, Colin. I’ve watched her since your arrival. I don’t believe she’d care where you came from, or what you did to get here.”

  “I can’t. There’s so much left to tell, and it is too late,” Colin raked his hands through his hair. “I was so damned spooked from that letter last night that I lied to her. If she knows I lied, then she has reason not to believe anything I say. She’ll see me as a barbarian and rightly so.”

  “You already told her a portion of the truth and she supported you. Why do you think this will be any different?” Logan picked up his mug again, taking a hefty swallow of the steaming brew.

  Colin tapped his fingers against the table. “She wasn’t there. She doesn’t know what it was like.”

  “Or why you had to—”

  “Don’t say it.” Colin squeezed his hands into tight fists.

  Logan clapped him on the back. “You’re not giving your wife enough credit.”

  “You cannot be serious,” Colin chided. “You don’t trust anyone. Why the sudden change of heart?”

  “Like I said, I’ve been watching her intently,” Logan continued, picking up his mug once more. “All this time you’ve pined for her. I figured she must be something. Add to that the fact that I failed to intimidate her the day of your arrival—”

  Colin raised his hand. “You can stop that, right now.”

  “What?” Logan asked, shrugging his shoulders.

  “The whole sinister façade,” Colin answered. “You’re part of society now. You need to stop acting like a—”

  “Like a mercenary?” Logan asked.

  Colin expelled a deep breath.

  “Are you afraid that she’ll discover who I was, what I did?” Logan continued, “Then put it together?”

  His friend didn’t answer, instead opting to finish his whiskey in two large gulps.

  “Killing someone doesn’t make you a murderer, old friend,” Logan placed his mug on the table, “any more than playing both sides makes us culpable for someone turning against his own.”

  Then why was it that every time Colin looked in the mirror, he saw just that staring back at him – a murderer and a barbarian? He didn’t want Eve to ever see it in him. He couldn’t live with it. It had been difficult enough to see fear in her eyes last night.

  His skin crawled from the mere memory.

  “All right,” Logan interrupted Colin’s inner turmoil. “The only ones who know your true parentage are members of your immediate family and they wouldn’t do this. So, who does that leave? Think about who might be in Scotland.”

  “I want you to find Dunlop,” Colin said.

  Logan shook his head. “Surely he has no idea about the war.”

  “No, I don’t believe he does,” Colin said. “But he was Lachlan’s first born son, illegitimate as he may be. Perhaps that’s
what the note refers to?”

  Logan considered this for a moment. “Not the man he claims to be …” he thought aloud. “As we’ve discussed, it could translate into ‘he’s not Lachlan MacAlistair’s heir.’ Even so, sneaking into your room in the middle of the night would mean that he’d have to be one sick son of a bitch. How did he get in?”

  Colin swallowed against the distaste that overcame him every time he thought of Keir Dunlop, his “father’s” illegitimate son. Of course, he hadn’t known Keir was Lachlan’s son until three years ago; however, Colin despised him nonetheless.

  Throughout his years of growing up, since his mother’s death when Lachlan moved their family to Scotland, Keir was Lachlan’s shadow. He was more of a child to Lachlan than his own children.

  It made no sense until Colin discovered why his “father” detested him – because he wasn’t truly Colin’s father by blood. Even if he were, Lachlan still wouldn’t have loved him. No, Tristan and Gwen had been his blood children, and he had treated them with just as much contempt as he had Colin.

  Perhaps it was because of their mother? Could Katharine MacAlistair have sealed her three children’s fate long before any of them were born? By having an affair with a married duke, becoming pregnant then, when the duke wouldn’t leave his wife who was already pregnant with a legitimate heir, tricking Lachlan MacAlistair into believing the child was his.

  It hadn’t been enough to trick the poor bastard into marrying her. No, she then admitted the truth years later, daring to make a fool of the psychotic man.

  Long before her death, Katharine had sought revenge for Lachlan’s own tryst by admitting her sins. Colin wasn’t his son. Lachlan would never forgive her for it, nor would he forgive her children, sinners by association.

  “I’ll make further inquiries about Keir,” Logan assured Colin. “As I wrote you before you returned to Scotland, no one has seen him in months.”

  It didn’t sit well with Colin. It must be Keir …

  “I want you to discover how he’s gaining access to locked rooms,” Colin instructed.

  “If it is Keir, you mean?” Logan asked.

  A muscled in Colin’s jaw twitched. “Keir or not, someone is entering the estate, lurking in the middle of the night. I want to know how they’re doing it, and I want it to cease at once.”

  “As you wish, mate,” Logan said.

  Colin left the cottage, his mind working frantically to process the events of the past twenty-four hours. Who was the culprit and what did he have to gain?

  Anger pounded in his temples. How dare someone try to ruin the life Colin had built with Eve? Colin had one thing in his favor – this intruder knew not the lengths to which he would go to keep Eve safe. He wouldn’t allow anyone to harm her or take her away from him.

  He’d do anything to prevent it.

  Hell, he’d killed for much less.

  * * *

  It’s getting to him. I’ve struck a nerve.

  A smile tugged at the corner of his lips. Colin MacAlistair’s well-crafted façade was beginning to crack.

  The intruder vowed to methodically chip away at the life the man had created until it destroyed him.

  His wife should be finding her second note any moment.

  Destroying the man will be well worth the pain he’s caused me.

  * * *

  Colin had worked tirelessly for the next few days, Eve noted with disgust. His excuse had been that he and Logan were working vigorously on estate business, but Eve sensed the truth.

  He was avoiding her.

  And she was sick of it.

  Waiting until he returned to his adjoining suite, Eve jerked the door open with force, tossing the latest note at him.

  “Read it. There are at least a dozen more. While you and Logan have been so secretive, this wicked person has been leaving them for me at all hours of the day and night.”

  Colin read the words scrawled on the paper in a rather messy hand.

  Your husband isn’t the man he claims to be.

  His pulse quickened.

  “What are you hiding from me, Colin?”

  “What makes you think I’m—”

  “Don’t you dare lie to me again,” Eve’s voice thundered through the room. She squeezed her eyes shut then spoke in a controlled pitch. “Don’t lie to me. I know there is something you’re not telling me. I’ve been patient, have I not? I think I’ve earned the truth. Regardless, keeping your secret isn’t protecting me.”

  He noted with a degree of disgust that she believed him to be far more noble than he actually was. Yes, he was protecting her to a degree, but not as much as he was protecting himself. If she knew the full truth, she would never love him the same. Such had been his overwhelming fear that kept him away from her.

  “Why don’t you just let this go?” he asked, trying to persuade her when he knew his wife would sooner believe that the moon was mauve. “Perhaps you can trust me when I say we’re better off with you not knowing?”

  “Trust you?” Eve snorted. “Why should I trust you when you don’t trust me enough to be honest with me?

  “Eve, don’t—”

  “No,” Eve shook her head with vehemence, anger flashing in her green eyes. “My ignorance is no longer acceptable. What aren’t you telling me?”

  “Eve—”

  “Damn it, Colin, tell me the truth!”

  He felt like a caged animal, wanting desperately to be freed from its confines. Colin knew his bride would never relent, that he had no choice but to confess.

  At this moment, he hated losing his tight-knit control.

  “Fine!” His temper flared. “You want the truth?”

  “Yes!”

  “The notes are correct. I am not who I claim to be. I’m an imposter, claiming an inheritance that doesn’t belong to me.”

  Eve felt sick, her heart slamming into her ribcage. “I- I don’t understand.”

  “I am the illegitimate son of the Duke of Davenport, raised by Lachlan MacAlistair because my pregnant mother tricked him into marrying her to save herself from scandal. I don’t deserve his inheritance or anyone else’s. I’m not the first-born, I’m not well-bred. I am someone’s bastard.”

  Eve felt her knees go weak. Dear God, she never expected this.

  “Yes, that’s right,” he snapped at her, fury clouding his azure eyes. “Do you understand now?”

  “How?” It was all she could manage.

  “When a man and woman have sex they—”

  “That’s not what I meant, Colin, and you know it.” Her tone was icy, and so was her body. She felt weak, certain all the color had drained from her face. “When did you discover the truth?”

  “After our first betrothal. Lachlan was thrilled to share that I wasn’t fit to clean your boots, let alone marry you. He was prepared to announce it to everyone in polite society, overjoyed at the prospect that your family would find me unworthy of marrying you.”

  “Colin, I’m sorry,” Eve’s heart ached for him. She reached for him, but he jerked away as if repelled by her very touch.

  “I don’t want your pity. I never have.”

  “I don’t pity you,” her eyes welled with tears.

  “Who’s lying now?” His tone was steely-edged.

  She didn’t know how to convince him that it didn’t matter to her, shock rendering her mute. This was the last thing she ever expected.

  Like a bolt of lightning crashing in a violent storm, Eve was reminded of Colin’s intimacy with Victoria. It was because they were siblings, she realized, despising herself even more for the terrible manner in which she treated her friend.

  “Get out!” he muttered.

  She’d never heard his tone so cold or menacing towards her. Though Eve cringed, she was unable to move. It was as if she were rooted to the very spot.

  “I said get out,” he exploded again before grabbing her arm and marching her to the door.

  Tears were threatening to fall. She swallowed hard b
efore muttering, “Colin, I- I don’t understand.”

  “I expected that. I have wanted to tell you the truth, I even wrote to you, spilling my heart out. I never sent the letters because I always suspected you wouldn’t understand.”

  “Why are you so angry with me?” She raked her hands through her hair.

  “Because it didn’t have to be this way! You forced this. You wanted the truth. Now …”

  “What?”

  “I would rather you divorce me tomorrow than spend one more minute pitying me.”

  “Divorce?” her voice was scarcely above a faint whisper.

  Colin loathed himself for uttering those words. Especially seeing how they wounded her – the sorrow in her eyes, the desperation behind their watery depths broke his heart. He shouldn’t have said it, yet he couldn’t very well take it back. Nor could he reverse time and remove the sunken, haunted look from her eyes as she studied him, waiting for an answer that he was unable to voice.

  He turned his back on her, unable to endure Eve’s wounded expression. Colin had feared that she would never see him in the same light once she learned the truth.

  Now, he was certain of it.

  He expected a reproof, but Eve remained silent, staring at him. Even though he was no longer facing her, he could feel her eyes boring a hole into his back as the air crackled with tension.

  When Eve did speak, her voice was faint. “It appears that you have no faith in me – to think that this would matter to me, that it would make me love you any less.”

  The pain in Eve’s tone made him certain that her heart was breaking into a million sharp, jagged pieces. “Look at me.”

  Colin didn’t heed her command.

  “Look at me,” she marched over to him and whirled him around to face her. “The man who sired you makes no difference to me. I was never the problem – you were. Your pride kept you from confiding in me, from trusting me.”

  His mind was reeling. How did everything turn upside down? The earth was still spinning, of that he was certain, yet he felt as if his life had violently lurched off kilter.